Foreign exchange student Myriam Azzabi-Torres has decided to take the opportunity to leave her home and stay with a new family on a whole new continent. After growing up in France and attending a private Catholic school, she has come to live in America and attend our school for the 2023-24 school year. 

The program she went through is called Jev Langue. They are a Limoges, France based program that helps students ages 14-18 visit new countries for anywhere from a couple of weeks to a whole year.

Her journey began in January which included filling out many forms, taking English classes two hours a week for three months, with tests regarding her competency speaking English. She also had to go to Paris to get a visa in order to live here. She chose between three different places to spend her year abroad.

“I had hesitated a lot between the UK, too expensive and not far enough from France, Australia, I was afraid that there are too many spiders, and the USA,” Torres said. 

Originally the plan was for Torres to spend her school year in Moose Lake Minnesota, but at the last minute she ended up being switched to Superior.

Torres arrived a month into the school year, unfortunately making her unable to register for fall sports, but she plans to register for hockey during the winter sports season. In France Torres participated in pentathlon, guitar, and theater.

Torres says some of the hardest parts of the move were speaking English and feeling integrated in the high school. 

“Literally everything has changed in my life since I arrived here because America is very different from France. Sometimes I feel like I don’t exist, being outside the high school life since I’m not really with a group of friends,” Torres said. 

For most, the idea of leaving your friends and family sounds terrifying, but for Torres, she saw this as an opportunity for adventure and learning. 

“It allows me to show courage, to exceed my own limit, to help me in my studies,” Torres said. “Because speaking English and being bilingual is a big advantage, to travel, make my dream come true, and make my loved ones proud.”